Eight Days a Week
Eight Days a Week

The Bible is sewn together into one redemptive story with a number of unifying threads[1] (a canonical approach). All of these unifying threads (themes) are contained in Genesis 1-11. Thus, Genesis 1-11 constitutes the foundation for understanding all of Genesis, all of the Torah (the Pentateuch), and all of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament). By careful observation of the biblical text, we can track these unifying themes all through the Scripture.


[1] Some of those unifying threads which are repeated again and again are trees and variations of the same, water barriers, seed, hostility, serpent, mountains and variations of the same, curse, bless, priest, rule, dominion, king and queen, precious stones, light, numbers (1,2,3…), marriage, seeing, good, temple, eating and variations of the same, etc. The problem in tracking these themes sometimes is that our English Bibles hide these words with more modern terms.

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Tim ColeTransfiguration of Jesus, Luke 9:28-36, Canonical approach to the Bible, Gnesis 1-11, The Tanakh, The Hebrew Bible, Eight Days, Major Bible Themes
Did Esau Despise His Birthright or The Birthright?
Did Esau Despise His Birthright or The Birthright?

Most English translations indicate that Esau despised his birthright (Genesis 25:34). But in actuality, the Hebrew Bible, the Bible that Jesus read, studied, and quoted, expresses something different. It takes us in a different direction, one firmly anchored in the larger story of God’s redemption. The Hebrew Bible reads, “Esau despised THE birthright.” What birthright is THE birthright?

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Tim ColeEsau, Genesi 25:34, Birthright, Murder, Lying, Jacob, John 8:31, The Devil, Seed of the serpent, seed of the woman
A Diet of Dust
A Diet of Dust

Dust is an enemy to clean freaks. The need to dust just seems never to stop. Everything stationary seems to collect dust. Where does it come from? And how can the presence of dust be an encouragement to us? There is an answer. When the LORD God handed down a judicial sentence to the serpent in Genesis 3, he said:

Cursed are you as none of the livestock and as none of the animals. You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. Genesis 3:14 . So, how does this curse of eating dust encourage us? Glad you asked. Read on.

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Tim ColeGenesis 3:14, serpent, dust, eat dust, curse, curse of the serpent, crawl on its belly, defeat
Where are You?
Where are You?

We are not built for guilt. Guilt means “liability to punishment” in the Hebrew Bible. Guilt inevitably impacts how we answer the questions posed to us as individuals. Our answers may be evasive, defensive, or even blame shifting in nature. Observe how God approaches two different people, both guilty, in the aftermath of their failure.

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Tim Coleguilt, Genesis 3, Genesis 4, Cain, Adam, How God approaches people
Trees Show Our Changing Relationship to God
Trees Show Our Changing Relationship to God

You looking for fresh material for a group or individual Bible study? Then why not consider something that is actually textually based, programmatic of the entire Bible, shows the inherent unity of Scripture, sharpens your Inductive Bible Study[1] skills, and best of all, leads you to Jesus Christ.


[1] Inductive Bible Study follows the natural way that Scripture is composed, frees one up from the crutches of using a Q/A format, and allows the context of the passage to guide one’s understanding. Learn the three steps: Observation, Interpretation, and Application. Throw away those crutches.

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Tim Coletrees, Genesis 1-3, Cross of Jesus, Noah's Ark, wood, fruit, tree of life, tree of knowledge, Trees in the New Testament, Trees in the Old Testament
Uprooted Trees, Infertile Women
Uprooted Trees, Infertile Women

To the average reader of the Bible, there is no connection between fruit trees and human beings, much less the subject of uprooted fruit trees and infertile women. The two issues don’t even seem remotely close. But in actuality, we are portrayed as fruit trees in countless Scripture passages, from the beginning to the end of Scripture. It is a unifying theme of the Bible. So, it should be no surprise at all that the issue of infertility—a key subject matter in both Old and New Testaments—is intentionally connected to trees, uprooted trees. Let me show that connection.

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Tim Colefruit, womb, Jesus, fruit of the womb, Sarah, Elizabeth, Luke 1, Mary, Humans as trees, Virgin Mary, Genesis 1:28, Ecclesiastes
Trees of Testing and People of Testing
Trees of Testing and People of Testing

We are familiar with the tree of testing from the story in Genesis 3. Eve saw that though the fruit tree was forbidden to eat from, she saw that it was desirable to the eye, beautiful, sort of like eye candy. The beauty of the tree became the bait by which the serpent drew her attention to it. But the forbidden tree is not the only beautiful “tree” in the biblical stories. Humans are portrayed as trees throughout Scripture. And some of those humans are also beautiful, desirable to the eye. Just as the original tree became a tree of testing, so also there are people who become “people of testing.” Let me explain.

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Tim ColeGenesis 3, Trees, testing, beautiful, fruit trees, humans as tress, temptation, Genesis 12
Are You Facing a Storm?
Are You Facing a Storm?

Are you facing a storm? And are you confused as to why God allowed such a storm to come your way? Is He punishing me? Did I do something wrong? These are common misconceptions that might trouble our hearts. God may send us a storm precisely because we did something right and followed His lead. So, take hope. God provides two encouragements for those facing the storms of life.

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Tim Colestorms, storms of life, Luke 8:22-25, fear, anxiety, Jonah, Encouragements in the storms of life
Cain and Saul: Seed of the Serpent
Cain and Saul: Seed of the Serpent

Cain and Saul—representatives of the seed of the woman, display anger, jealousy, envy, and homicidal tendencies toward men who are depicted as forerunners of the ultimate seed of the woman, Jesus Christ (Genesis 3:15). The first man, Cain, displays his connection to the serpent at worship. The second character, Saul, displays his serpent characteristics at home.

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Tim ColeCain, Abel, Saul, Seed of the serpent, seed of the woman, Genesis 3:15, 1 Samuel, King Saul, King David, homicide, jealousy
Seed of the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman
Seed of the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman

Have you ever considered why the tallest men in First Samuel were decapitated? Why did the tallest guys lose their heads? Off with their heads! Well, the biblical author is making a theological point that we must not miss. He is showing us how one of the greatest promises ever made by God in Scripture is fulfilled. They lose their heads so that we do no lose hope.

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Tim ColeGenesis 3:15, serpent, seed of the woman, seed of the serpent, Satan, the devil, Eve, First Samuel, Saul, David, Goliath
The Naked Truth About Nakedness
The Naked Truth About Nakedness

Paul’s reading of the Genesis narratives can be, at times, quite confusing. It appears that he might just be reading more into the Scripture text than what is actually there. A Roman governor once said to him: “Your great learning is driving you mad!” Does Paul go off the rails at times, driven by an excess of passion and creativity? Some think so.

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Tim ColeNakedness, nudity, Genesis 3, guilt, sin, Romans 5:12, The Fall, Paul the Apostle, Fear, Hiding, Clothing
Did God Create Evil?
Did God Create Evil?

If everything that the LORD God made was good (טֹ֖וב), beneficial and helpful to humanity, evaluated as such by His own mind (Genesis 1:31), then how are we to understand that one of His creatures—the serpent--was crafty? The term “crafty” is naturally understood as a negative trait. How, then, can we evaluate something negative as positive, as “good”? Did a good God create evil?

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Tim ColeGenesis 3:1, serpent, Satan, evil, devil
One Flesh: A New Family Unit
One Flesh: A New Family Unit

“And they become one flesh.” When a man leaves his parents and clings to his wife in marriage, the two of them become one flesh.

Meaning just what? Robert Alter translates, “they become one flesh. And the two of them were naked and unashamed.” So, which is correct? Are they one or are they two? Or, can they be both one and two? What did Moses mean by “one flesh?”

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Tim ColeOne flesh, Genesis 2:24, Marriage, Family, Relationship